Machine for making envelops.



Patented Apr. 30, I90l.

No. 672,9l9.

. J. A. SHERMAN. MACHINE FOR MAKING ENVELOPS.

(Application filed Oct. 24, 1898.-

4 Shnts- Sheet (No Model-) Patented Apr. 30, I90l. J. A; SHERMAN. VMACHINE FOR MAKING ENVELOPS.

(Application filed Oct. 24, 1898.:

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

J. AV SHERMAN.

MACHINE FOR MAKING ENVELOPS.

(Application fi1e d Oct. 24, 1893.:

No. 672,9!9. Patented Apr. 30, l90l.

(No Model.) 4 Shee.ts.-S heet 3.

l/l lllmll llmlll E II No. 672.9!9. I Patented Apr. 30, 190i.

I J. A. SHERMAN.

MACHINE FOR MAKING ENVELOPS.

(Application filed Oct. 24, 1898..

, 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. SHERMAN, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR MAKING ENVELOPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 672,919, dated April30, 1901 Application filed October 24, 1898. vSerial No. 694,879. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN A. SHERMAN, of Worcester, in the county ofWorcester and State of Massachusetts, have in vented a new and usefulImprovement in Machines for Making Envelops, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention is an improvement upon the invention described in LettersPatent No. 584,824, dated June 22, 1897, and as the improvement relatesmerely to certain portions of the machine I have deemed it necessary toonly illustrate the parts which operate those portions, showing them,however, in connection with other parts of an operative machine of akind well known in the art.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents in vertical section the machinecontaining the improvements, which I will hereinafter describe. Fig. 2shows a picker of peculiar construction, its manner of operation beingindicated. Fig. 3 shows an enlarged view of the construction andoperation of the folding-box, Figs. 4, 5, and 6 being intended toillustrate more especially the front folder and its oporation, both ofwhich, it is believed, are new with me. These views are diagrammatic incharacter. Fig. 7 is a detail in perspective, showing the front folder;and Fig. 8 is a detail in section, showing the two end folders. A is thetable, suitably supported in the usual manner in a frame B, whichcarries a cam-shaft C, by means of which proper movement is given to thevarious parts. In the frame are also mounted suitable cross-rods 0 Gupon which are fulcrumed certain of the cam-levers, as will be belowdescribed.

The picker mechanism consists of an arched frame D, in which slides avertical spindle E, carrying at its lower end a hub e, from whichproject two arms e 8 each carrying one of the pickers F F, adjustablethereon. Upon the sleeve G, which slides upon the spindle E, is alsomounted a hub g, carrying an arm g, at the end of which is the picker H.Motion is given'to the pickers F F by means of the cam F which acts uponthe cam-lever f, fulcrumed on 0', connected by the connecting-rodf tothe rocker-arm f mounted on the sleeve, fast to the shaft J. A clamp falso fast to the shaft J, carries a rocker-arm f which is connected by aconnecting-rod f with a projection f from the spindle E. Thus as the camF rotates a vertically-reciprocating movement is given to the pickers FF. The picker H is operated in a similar manner, but independently ofthe pickers F F, such a course being desirable in some machines. Forthis purpose the picker H instead of being attached to the spindle E ismounted upon the sleeve G, surrounding said spindle, and slides thereon,and this picker is operated by means of a cam H through the cam-lever h,fulcrumed on rod 0 connecting rod h, which connects the cam-lever, withthe rocker-arm h This rocker-arm is mounted on a sleeve h carried on theshaft J, but adapted to rock independently of it,the sleeve k alsocarrying a clamp 7%, from which projects a second rocker-arm 72connected at its outer end by the connecting-rod h with the sleeve G.Suitable springs f 71 are of course provided to hold the levers f itagainst their respective cams.

The construction above described is very simple and is also very useful,for it enables the one-sized frame to be used with machines of diiferentsizes and also with machines intended to make envelops of differentstyles, the same serving, for example, in making a frame for a machineto make an open-end envelop, as well as a machine to make the en velopof ordinary style, for the location of the pickers upon their arms, aswell as the location of the arms themselves upon the rod or sleeve, maybe easily changed to suit varying circumstances. Moreover, where thepickers are operated separately one picker can be operated slightly inadvance of the other, and hence can serve to pick up one corner of theblank and allow the air to get in under that corner before the otherpickers begin to rise, thus preventing the pickers from lifting bysuction more than one blank at a time.

The improvement in the folding-box will be understood by reference toFigs. 3,, 4, 5, 6, and 7, which will now be described.

Kis the plunger,which passes down through the creasing-opening L,carrying the blank down upon the bed M of the folding-box in thewellknown manner. This bed of the folding-box is mounted on the shaft Nand forms the upper end of a rocking lever N, which is rocked by the camN acting upon the cam-lever N connected to the lever N by theconnecting-rod N The shaft N being located below the plane of thejournals of the folding-box and within their vertical planes andapproximately in a vertical plane with the middle of the bed, the bedwill be firmly supported against the folding pressure of the folders. Atthe same time itcan yield slightly on its axis in case, owing to thefact that the thickness of the paper is slightly greater on one sidethan the other, either of the side folders tends to exert agreaterpressure upon the bed than the other, the backlash being due to theordinary inaccuracies of fit between the joints of the parts connectingthe bed with its source of movement. To the folding-box bed are alsoattached ears m, (one only is shown,) which bear against one edge of theenvelop when it is in place on the bed, the adjacent folder beingnotched to receive them.

The folding mechanism proper is similar to the wellknown foldingmechanism in envelop-machines, except as below described. It consists ofa series of folders which operate in the manner well known to fold inturn the various flaps of the envelop.

In the machine shown in the drawings the parts are arranged to make andfold what is known as a coin-bag, and the folder which operates first isthe folder marked P, the folder Q operating second and the other foldersoperating in turn. The other folders are marked S and T, the folderTbeing adapted to fold the fiy-flap of the envelop and of courseoperating last. The mechanism for operating these folders will not bedescribed, as it is well known to all skilled in the art.

The peculiarity of my folding mechanism lies in the construction andoperation of the folder P. This folder P is mounted on a shell 13, whichis carried at each end by a trunnion 19, mounted in the usualjournalboxes. The purpose of this shell will be understood from Figs. 4,5, and 6. When the blank is first driven down by the plunger intoposition, (see Fig. 4,) it is essential to the proper folding of theenvelop that there shall be an edge or bead with which the plunger shallcooperate on all sides to give to the blank a sharp fold or crease. Sucha bead is now well known in the art and is formed usually in foursections, one of which forms part of each of the folders. That portionof the bead which forms a part of the folder Q is lettered q, thatportion which forms a part of the folder S is lettered s, and thatportion which forms the part of the folder T is lettered t. It will beseen by Fig. 4 that when the folder P is in the position there shownsuch an edge is supplied by the face of the shell 1).

In Fig. 5 the folders P and Q have folded in their respective flaps andthe envelop is supposed to have been completed by the folding in of theother two flaps, and Fig. 6 shows the folders open, so as to allow theenvelop to be discharged from the folding-box. It will be noted now thatthe folder P is in such a position as compared with its position in Fig.4 that an opening is left underneath the shell for the purpose ofallowing the envelop a free passage under the folder and out from thefolding-box. The bed M now rocks into the position shown in dotted linesin Fig. 3, the ears m insuring the carrying of the finished envelop intosuch a position that it will fall off into the drier, which is shown atR. The bed having rocked in this position returns again to itshorizontal position and is ready to receive another blank, at whichinstant the folder P is rocked into the position shown in Fig. 4 and thefolding-box is again ready for action. The shell 79 is notched at p toallow the ears m their full stroke. It will thus be seen that the folderP has, in fact, three motions. It moves to the position shown in Fig. 4and dwells there sufficiently long to receive the blank from the plungerand square up its edge in the manner shown in Fig. 4. It then moves intothe position shown in Fig. 5 to do its part of the folding operation andmoves back into the position shown in Fig. 6, dwelling theresufliciently to allow the bed to oscillate for the purpose of carryingthe finished envelop out of the machine, these movements and dwellsbeing given to the folder P by means of the cam which operates it, thiscam being of the ordinary construction of presser folder-cams except inso far as it may be given an absolutely cylindrical surface at thosepoints where the dwell is to take place.

The main feature of novelty in the foldingbox lies in the folder P,which has all the characteristics of the ordinary folder and is soconstructed and operated that it not only serves to furnish a bead oredge which will define one edge of the envelop when the plunger drivesdown the blank and will fold in the ordinary way when the foldingoperation takes place,but also will be withdrawn, so that the bed of thebox may rock to withdraw the envelop from the box.

By withdrawing the shell I mean rocking it back into the position shownin Fig. 6, where it will be seen that there is a spacebetween the underedge of the shell 19 and the upper surface of the newly-folded envelopsufficient to allow the bed of the folding-box to carry the foldedenvelop freely out of the folding-box for the purpose of dropping itinto the drier, as is indicated in Fig. 3.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. In an envelop-machine, a pickermechanism consisting of a vertically-reciprocating spindle mounted in aframe, one or more pickers attached to the lower end of said spindle, asleeve surrounding saidspindle also carrying one or more pickers, andmeans whereby said spindle and sleeve may be reciprocated eitherindependently or in unison, as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In an envelop-machine, a picker mechanism consisting ofa suitableframe in which IIO is carried a vertically-reciprocating spindle havingat its lower end one or more pickers and carrying a sleeve adapted toslide thereon and carrying at its lower end one or more pickers, andmeans whereby said spindle and said sleeve are reciprocatedindependently.

3. In an envelop-machine the folding-box above described provided with asuitable bed and four folders, the support of one of said folders beingcut away to leave a shell adapted to form a bead to border the edge ofthe folding-box, and a passage under the shell to allow the envelop tobe delivered therethrough, and means whereby said folder is oscillatedto bring said bead into position, first, to cooperate with theblank-delivery mechanism; second, to fold said blank, and, third, toopen a passage under said head for the delivery of the folded envelop,as and for the purposes set forth.

4. In an envelop-folding box a folder consisting of a folding portionand a shell portion, said folder being mounted at each end in a suitablejournal, and said shell being adapted to form a bead, and means wherebysaid folder is oscillated to bring its beadinto position to receive ablank and to dwell in said position, is then oscillated to fold theblank, and is then given a reverse oscillation to withdraw the bead fromthe folding-bed and open a passage under said bead for the foldedenvelop, as and for the purposes set forth.

5. An envelop-folding box having an oscillating folding-bed and fourfolders, each folder carrying a portion of the bead, the folder towardwhich said bed oscillates being cutaway as described to form a passagethereunder, and means whereby said folder is oscillated after thefolding operation to open a passage through which the oscillating bedmay carry the folded envelop and is then oscillated in a reversedirection to close said passage and form a bead to receive a fresh blankand is again oscillated in the latter direction to fold the blank, asand for the purposes described.

' In witness whereof I have hereunto set my name this 17th day ofOctober, 1898.

JOHN A. SHERMAN.

